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DOG FOOD

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DOG FOOD

People across the globe are striving to improve their health - through exercise and proper nutrition. Every day we make informed decisions about the foods we eat. Companies have recognized this trend and have begun marketing low-fat, low-calorie, or low-carb versions of our favorite foods. But with all of this attention to our own health, we may be forgetting the nutrition of our loyal companion pets. Sure, pet food companies have created special formulas for overweight, older, or active dogs; but even these blends do not meet the necessary requirements for your pet's health. In fact, studies have shown that your dog's food may cause illnesses such as skin allergies, stomach problems, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

A BUSINESS FIRST PHILOSOPHY

Pet food companies are run in the interest of business first, while disregarding the interests of those who consume their products - your pet.

Pet food is produced and marketed with the owner - not the pet - in mind. Cute shapes, different colors, exotic flavors-these are characteristics that people have come to expect in their food. Think about colored ketchup, the staggering array of flavor choices for potato chips, and even pasta shaped like cartoon characters. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish(r) crackers, as an example, are shaped like fishs, complete with eye and smiling mouth. You can buy the regular cheddar ones or get the colored ones that come in purple, red orange, and green. The flavor-blasted crackers come in cheddar, nacho, BBQ, and even a flavor called "Xplosive Pizza."

Kids love foods with different shapes, colors, and flavors. But what about your dog? The only characteristic that your dog is seeking in food is taste. Colored and shaped morsels are for your benefit, not your dog's.

The whole point of marketing is to convince the consumer to purchase one product among a sea of similar products. Yet the image depicted by a company for their product is not always accurate. We are led to believe that our dogs are eating moist whole chicken, choice cuts of beef, fresh-picked grains, even chunks of real vegetables. Unfortunately, this is just an image
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The pet food industry only uses ingredients that are unfit for human consumption. They make a profit from waste that would otherwise be worthless to them. Pet food companies owned by multinational companies include:

Multinational companies who own dog food manufacturing companies are in the perfect relationship as far as business is concerned. According to the Animal Protection Institute, the benefits of being a multinational company include:

PET FOOD STANDARDS

Not all pet foods contain poor quality ingredients, but you have to read and understand the labels in order to make an informed decision. Unfortunately, pet food companies use obscure terms to describe the ingredients that go into their products.

One pet food company claims on its web site that "pet foods identified as 100% complete and balanced contain all... required nutrients... in the proper proportions."

While it is true that pet foods must meet certain standards set by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) in order to be labeled as "complete and balanced," there are problems with the quality of the standards themselves.

In "What's Really in Pet Food," the Animal Protection Institute describes how up until the late 1980's, the pet food standards were set by the NRC (National Research Council of the Academy of Science). Their standards, however, required feeding trials for a pet food to be labeled "complete" and "balanced." The pet food industry rejected the feeding methods, claiming that they were "too restrictive and expensive."
AAFCO created the "Nutrient Profiles" testing method as an alternative to feeding trials. Some larger companies still use feeding trials, because they are more reliable at determining the nutritional value of a pet food. Most companies, however, perform a chemical analysis of the food to test if it conforms to the "Nutrient Profiles." The Animal Protection Institute explains that testing does not take into account factors such as "palatability, digestibility, or biological availability of nutrients in pet food."

To compensate for the test's faults, AAFCO created a "safety factor," whereby companies add extra nutrients as a guarantee of achieving the requirements. Many nutrients are lost during manufacturing, especially for extruded (puffed and shaped) foods. Companies add additional vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in order to meet the standards for "complete and balanced" labeling. In her book Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food, Ann Martin notes that in some cases the minerals added are unchelated, meaning they do not readily combine with proteins, so they pass through the body practically unused. In other cases, the excessive amounts are absorbed, which can be dangerous and even deadly.

Another issue with AAFCO standards is the designation of one standard feeding profile for all types and breeds of dogs. William D. Cusick - researcher, author, and self-proclaimed "Animal Advocate" - points out that some dogs shed their coats while others don't. Each type of dog requires different nutrients for their fur, not a diet that is designed for an imaginary "average" dog. Some dogs excrete oils from their skin. These dogs do not require the same amounts of fatty acids as other dogs. Activity levels vary between breeds and even among dogs within a breed. Certainly these pets require different nutrients that cannot be met with one standard nutrient profile.

DOG FOOD INGREDIENTS

Meat Products

The protein in dog food comes from poultry, cattle, fish, lambs, swine, and other animals. Choice cuts are stripped away for human consumption. This leaves approximately 50% of the carcass including bones, blood, intestines, lungs, ligaments and any other portion not usually eaten by humans, according to the Animal Protection Institute.

Material received from the slaughterhouse is "denatured" to prevent it from being manufactured for human consumption. Denaturing involves covering the raw meat with any number of substances including the federally approved substances of carbolic acid (phenol, a potentially corrosive disinfectant), fuel oil, kerosene, crude carbolic acid, citronella, or creosote (used to preserve wood or as a disinfectant). Dr. Wendell Belfield, DVM, former USDA Vet, stated that as a veterinary meat inspector, he used carbolic acid and creosote, both of which are extremely toxic. Creosote, with its distinct odor, "was used for many years as a preservative for wood power poles. Its effect on the environment proved to be so negative that it is no longer used for that purpose."

At the rendering plant, the meat is shredded and cooked at high temperatures until the fat separates from the meat. This process is seen on a small scale when you boil chicken on your stove. The fat floats to the top; and if allowed to cool, it will harden in a thick layer. The fat is removed to be used later. The water is squeezed from the remaining material to create meat and bone meal. Although rendering kills bacteria, it also removes nutrients and proteins needed for energy.

Meat and bone meal is made of more than just meat and bone. All kinds of things find their way into the rendering pot. In addition to slaughterhouse waste, animals that fit within the 4D Rule are also rendered - that includes animals that are disabled, diseased, dead or dying. Other rendered items include restaurant grease and leftovers, road kill, euthanized companion pets complete with flea collars and the green bags in which they are transported, grocery store items such as meat and baked goods that are past their expiration date (Styrofoam tray and plastic wrap included) and much more.

No recipe exists for the meat material produced by the slaughterhouses and rendering plants. Meat by-products and meat and bone meals vary from batch to batch creating an unstable source of nutrition for pets.

Although many sources are opposed to the use of by-products in dog foods, Laura Michaels, the owner of Woodhaven Labradors feels differently. She states that just because humans do not consume a particular part of an animal does not mean that part lacks nutrients. People do eat intestines; they're known as chitlins. Grocery stores sell the cow's stomach; it's called tripe. Some people even eat pork brains in milk gravy in their scrambled eggs. These parts are all by-products used in pet food. The owner of Woodhaven Labradors pointed out that in the wild, animals "don't go for the 'meaty haunch', they go for the gut and pull out all that gooey stuff and eat it."

Fats

The food that comes from the manufacturing plant is so rancid that no dog would touch it. So why does your dog come running when you open a new bag of commercial pet food? Because that overpowering odor wafting from the bag smells like dinner to him. Fat is sprayed directly on the morsels of food, and that is what you and your dog smell. The fat that entices him to eat is gathered from the rendering plant, restaurant grease, and other sources of fats and oils that are too rancid for human consumption. The restaurant grease is gathered from various establishments and stored in huge drums, sometimes outside for weeks at a time in extreme temperatures. Fat is also used as a sort of glue to stick other flavors to pet food morsels. These flavors and the sprayed fat trick pets into eating the food.

We all know that our pets enjoy meats - especially cats, who are true carnivores - so why are we feeding them corn? It all goes back to the pet food industry focusing on business first. Grains are a cheaper energy source, so grains are better for their bottom line.

Types of grains used in pet foods include wheat, soy, corn, white rice, potatoes, beans, oats, and peanut shells.

ILLNESS & DISEASE

Low quality ingredients, excessive chemical additives, and poor labeling standards all result in problems for your companion pet, from skin allergies to cancer.

The manufacturing processes of rendering and extruding may kill bacteria, but they do nothing to destroy the toxins produced by bacteria. Other toxins that are not necessarily removed during processing include:

Roxy came to stay with us in December 2005 due to health problems in her family.  She stayed with us for 6 months, until her family decided that even though they loved her very much - she had to be rehomed. We found her what we thought was a nice family, but unfortunately she came back to us last week.  They left Roxy alone for 11 hours, didn't allow her in the house, putting her in a kennel at the bottom of the garden. The neighbours complained that she was 'barking' - wouldn't you ????

Roxy is a beautiful 2 year old black labrador bitch, she is very friendly and affectionate.  She gets on well with other dogs and loves children. A perfect family dog

Roxy has now been rehomed for three months in a lovely caring home, they are experts in gundogs and already have a terrier cross. She is taken everyday on long walks and is generally treated like a princess!!!

Roxy really fell on her feet - but then she deserves it!!!!

Flossy was finally found roaming the streets of Manchester with another dog, Roger the Rotweiller. They were both in a terrible state, covered in fleas and starving hungry. Luckily they were found and taken to the nearest Rescue Centre.  After being isolated for many weeks for medical purposes, they were ready to be re-homed.

Re-homing adult dogs is very difficult as most people want puppies or young dogs. Older dogs need love, care and affection too, and it is by no fault of their own that they often find themselves on the streets.

In the centre Flossy saw so many people from her cage, looking but just moving on. Roger, who she was very attached to, and lived in the next cage, was re-homed.  Flossy stopped eating, probably out of despair.

During this time, a family in Hertfordshire who, had just lost their own dog, a GSD called Purdy, decided that they would look to re-home a large older dog, and went to some of the rescue centres in the area to find one. Unfortunately there was nothing suitable, so they looked on the internet, and there she was, Flossy, older and VERY large.  After a few weeks they went to Manchester to see her - she wasn’t a pretty sight, but they fell in love with her.

Flossy now lives in a lovely warm home, with adults and children who all love her, she still doesn’t play, or eat treats, or eat in front of people, but now she knows she will be cared for, loved and has a warm place in front of the fire for all that is left of her sad and tormented life.